Men's Basketball

Coast Guard Men’s Basketball Preview vs. Merchant Marine

Dec 09, 2013

LAST YEAR: Junior Reed Buck led all scorers with 22 points and the Mariners ended the first half on a 16-3 run and began the second half with a 13-3 spurt en route to a 72-44 win over rival Coast Guard.

The first half was filled with runs as the Mariners also an 11-2 spurt to take a 15-7 lead before the Bears responded with a 10-3 run of their own after being down 19-9.

Coast Guard shot 31.4 percent (16-51) from the floor in the game while making 6 of 18 from 3-point range. Salve Regina shot 46.8 percent (29-62) and hit 11 of 27 from downtown.

Andrew Williams grabbed nine rebounds as Merchant Marine held a 45-31 advantage on the glass.

SERIES HISTORY: Merchant Marine holds a 23-22 all-time series edge. The teams have alternated wins and losses the last three years but Merchant Marine has won three of the last four contests between the bitter rivals.

LAST GAME: Sophomore Ryan McNeil scored 21 of his game-high 24 in the first half but it wasn't enough as Connecticut College claimed the championship at the 2013 Citizens Bank Tournament with a 77-65 victory over host Coast Guard.

Conn. used a 22-6 run over a span of seven minutes and 48 seconds to turn a one point deficit into a 59-44 lead with 11:52 to play.

Conn. senior Matt Vadas was named tournament MVP after leading four Conn. players in double figures with 19 points.

Joining McNeil in double figures were junior David Anderson and sophomore Ricky Rodriguez with 11 apiece. Senior John Benedict chipped in with nine points and seven boards off the bench for the Bears who were out-rebounded 42-33 against a bigger Camel team.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears host archrival Merchant Marine tonight after claiming a second place finish at the Citizens Bank Tournament over the weekend.

The Bears are led by junior David Anderson's 13.3 points per game. Anderson also leads the Bears with 6.3 rebounds per game and seven blocked shots. He's shooting 50.7 percent (35-69) from the floor.

Sophomore Ryan McNeil, who is shooting 46.8 percent from the field and a team-best 41.2 percent from three, is second on the team with 9.4 points per game.

Senior Devonte Weems (8.1 ppg) is third on the team with 4.6 rebounds per game and first with 21 assists while junior Eli Sponseller ranks second with 4.9 rebounds per game.

Coast Guard is shooting 38.3 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from 3-point range (43-131).

The Bears are averaging 60.1 points per game while allowing 63.9 points per contest.

SCOUTING MERCHANT MARINE: The Mariners are off to a 2-3 start with victories over Sarah Lawrence and Maritime (N.Y.).

Nick Sergio leads four Mariners averaging in double figures at 11.8 points per game. Sergio is second on the team with 7 rebounds per game while Danny Collins leads the club at 9.7 per.

David Smith (11.7), Zach Karczewski (11.0) and Matthew Miller (10.0) are both averaging 10-or better for Merchant Marine while Collins leads the team with two assists per game.

The Mariners are shooting 39.5 percent from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc (14-56) this season.

Merchant Marine is averaging 67 points while allowing 68.8 points per game in 2013/14.

UP NEXT: The Bears return to action on Monday, December 30th when they take on Division I and fellow service academy Army at 1:00 pm.

STAT OF THE DAY: Coast Guard is unbeaten this season when Devonte Weems scores in double figures.

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